41 days and I'm steaming!!

August 17, 2003

I know this is a common topic here in the TB forums, but I need to vent!

I own 3 bugs, (one I just released today), the first one, Ollie has had no fun. I dropped him off in a local cache where he patiently waited. He was picked up and held by a teen-cacher for well over a month. I e-mailed the kid and it worked, he dropped him off and within a week Ollie was on the move again. This time an adult grabbed him, and apparently has forgotten about him.

Is this normal? Sheesh!

Now I look at myself as an average cacher. I started in March of this year, found my first bug within a few weeks, logged and moved it quickly. WHAT IS SO HARD ABOUT IT!?!?!

I've had my hands on 12 different bugs, the longest I've held one is 10 days.

I'll e-mail this TB hugger soon with a "nice" "hope everything's fine, is the bug okay?" message. I just wanted to vent a little before I have to sweeten my disposition for them.

Thanks for listening.

Og

Prophetically Challenged (or is that Pathetically?)

August 17, 2003

Some people keep TB's because they plan on taking it on vacation or whatever. I wouldn't worry about it too much, but 41 days is getting a bit lengthy.

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Garmin V

Garmin III+

2.3k · August 18, 2003

I don't think its unreasonable to email and ask them what their intentions are with your little TB...

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Free your mind and the rest will follow

August 18, 2003

Wow, and I thought I was tough on this issue. I mean, check out the Travel Bug Police Department I created:

http://www.geocaching.com/track/track_detail.asp?ID=38823

(This is just one of four)

I've had a lot of bugs, owned a lot of bugs, followed a lot of bugs, and talked to a lot of folks about bugs, and concluded that the etiquette-average is 6 weeks to hold a bug, as the upper limit. After that, a polite email. After a while, you may have to resort to the Travel Bug Graveyard (see the link of the TBPD page above). So it goes.

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"Thos' Degrees of Longitude and Latitude in Name, yet in Earthly reality are they Channels mark'd for the transport of some unseen Influence, one carefully assembl'd chain…"

– Thomas Pynchon, Mason & Dixon

August 18, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Doc-Dean:
I don't think its unreasonable to email and ask them what their intentions are with your little TB...

I did this for one of mine and got a real ulgy reply telling me that they would place it when they got back into caching. I'm still waiting. they picked it up in Feb. still have it.

Mejas

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Free your mind and the rest will follow

Love caching

August 21, 2003

One of my T.B.s http://www.geocaching.com/track/track_detail.asp?ID=16325 (A Wish for Wings that Work) was picked up on November 22, 2002 by a teen cacher who sat on it for several months. I sent the polite e-mail last March or so and recived a very polite e-mail back telling that he would place it soon. Finally last Sunday the bug was placed and has now been picked up again. I had almost given up on poor Opus after 38 weeks and figured that maybe he found a wife and settled down and forgot to tell me about it. (You may have to look at the TB page to get this) But I'm happy to see that he is moving again at last and I hope he has many more adventures.

August 21, 2003

Wow, Cannonlaw, that's actually an uplifting story. That definitely was a very long time for a person to hold onto a bug. I'm happy Opus is moving again.

I did email my bug-hugger with a polite message and received a response within a day. He was apologetic and said he would move it on in a couple of days.

I still don't get why people can't understand that when they choose to take a TB from a cache instead of some other trade item, that they are taking on the responsibility to move it in a timely manner.

Og

Prophetically Challenged (or is that Pathetically?)

1k · August 21, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by The Alethiometrists:I've had a lot of bugs, owned a lot of bugs, followed a lot of bugs, and talked to a lot of folks about bugs, and concluded that the etiquette-average is 6 weeks to hold a bug, as the upper limit. After that, a polite email. After a while, you may have to resort to the Travel Bug Graveyard (see the link of the TBPD page above). So it goes.

I guess that means it's probably ok for me to start contacting the people who have had my bug since June. I'm actually doing pretty good, considering that I have 20 bugs out there and only one hasn't moved since June, but I know that one's dead.

8 more are in the mail.

Webfoot

Yeah, sure....but did he use a GPSr to find it?

August 22, 2003

41 days? Come back after 100...

I have three bugs that have been held hostage for at least 100 days (and a couple more that may soon pass the century mark). Since none of the current custodians have deigned to respond to my emails and my offer to pay postage to send the bug home, I've decided to create my own Hall of Shame for these bug-nappers. Maybe shame will motivate them since, apparently, nothing else will.

This Lazarus bug came back from the dead though after 10 months so don't give up hope!

____________________________________________

I used to be disgusted, now I'm just amused

August 23, 2003

One of my bugs has gone MIA from a cache in Florida. It just "dissapeared" out of the cache in January. My guess is that some "person of lesser intelligence" nabbed it thinking it was a token. Oh well.

1.2k · August 23, 2003

Been following a Travel bug we picked up. We placed in our first hidden cache.

It Was picked up out od our cache and held by a guy for (drumroll please.......) 4 months!!

Even though it's not our bug, I emailed the guy and he said he would place it...3 weeks later, he did.

Happy caching!!

Ed

(ps) one of my bugs had been out of play for 2 months and counting...

August 23, 2003

Just a quick thought here. One of our travel bugs has been missing since December, 2002. It was never logged out of the cache - but simply "disappeared". We've almost sent it to the graveyard but couldn't quite bring ourselves to do that.

So we've now turned it into a "virtual" travel bug that can only visit virtual caches. The logistics are much easier in case the actual bug ever reappears. We can just "virtually" grab the bug from wherever it happens to be at the time and turn it back into a "real" travel bug.

"Geocaching expands your horizons - not your butt!"

August 24, 2003

Originally posted by Ed & Julie:
Been following a Travel bug we picked up.

I also placed a TB in a cache. This poor bug http://www.geocaching.com/track/track_detail.asp?ID=24600 just up and disappeared. I emailed the next person to the cache and he said he did not take the bug. The person after that said he never saw the bug. Poor bug is just lost.

HappyFrog

1.1k · August 24, 2003

Well there are people who cache without logging to the web or logbook and maybe one of them has some of these missing bugs.

I have one sitting in a cache that has been gone for over a year but the person who took it out will not replace it in another cache, even after a half dozen request from myself and the bug owner. Said person is still active in caching also.

logscaler.

"It is not fair to have a battle of wits with unarmed people."

August 24, 2003

Could be worse:

http://www.geocaching.com/track/track_detail.asp?ID=21851

First guy had his GPS stolen. Took him that long to get it replaced and then get the bug into a cache.

Look at the stats on the second one. I don't know what to make of it. I got an email back on the first request. Nothing since. I've sent an additional email each month.

Why pull a travel bug if you don't have regular internet access?

I suppose I ought to post to the utah group and see if anyone has seen it.

SA / PP-ASEL-I / Yahoo "SphinxXXVII" / ICQ 1916574

August 24, 2003

Good news! Ollie is on the move again!

Og

Prophetically Challenged (or is that Pathetically?)

August 24, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by Og's outfit:
Good news! http://www.geocaching.com/track/track_detail.asp?ID=26735 is on the move again!

Yes, he saved up 8 TB's and put them in his own cache. At least they have been freed.

HappyFrog

August 24, 2003

Yesterday someone placed a bug in one of my caches GCGKPC. They entered it in the cache log, said it was "their first cache"(?) but their total showed 2. When I looked at the bug TB log their name never showed up. So, I made a note showing that I grabbed it and logged it into my cache. Also emailed the owner who was happy to hear it was OK and suprised it was in Florida. Not sure if what I did was proper but it seemed to get the bug back on the record.

Have a friend that picked one up and had no idea how to log it. He went to the TB page and made entries but never actually *picked the bug up*.

Is there a tag that can be placed with a bug, similar to the one placed with a cache? I would like to see something that says you are assuming some responsibility when you take a bug. Also would like to see detailed instructions on the tag for logging a TB. I think some bugs end up like the one I found where people retrieve them and move them but have no clue about logging them on the TB page, they only log them on the cache page.

Kissimmee Kouple

August 24, 2003

I'm in Gainesville, FL and we have some in the area that calls himself an Exterminator. He (they, she, it ... yeah, I like 'it' for the lowlife) takes travel bugs and leaves an extermination card. I presume they're gone forever .

I've started watching nearby caches and if I see a TB dropped off in our area I'll try to pick it up, even if it means it will be a few weeks before I can take it onward. Will also contact the TB's owner, but surely they'd rather have their TB safe and slow than exterminated.

August 25, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by suemac:
I'm in Gainesville, FL and we have some in the area that calls himself an Exterminator. He (they, she, it ... yeah, I like 'it' for the lowlife) takes travel bugs and leaves an extermination card. I presume they're gone forever .

I've started watching nearby caches and if I see a TB dropped off in our area I'll try to pick it up, even if it means it will be a few weeks before I can take it onward. Will also contact the TB's owner, but surely they'd rather have their TB safe and slow than exterminated.

You know, I had a travel bug that went missing in that area. I wonder if it was the work of this "Exterminator/ A-Hole". Makes ya think.

August 25, 2003

quote:
Originally posted by suemac:
I'm in Gainesville, FL and we have some in the area that calls himself an Exterminator. He (they, she, it ... yeah, I like 'it' for the lowlife) takes travel bugs and leaves an extermination card. I presume they're gone forever .

I've started watching nearby caches and if I see a TB dropped off in our area I'll try to pick it up, even if it means it will be a few weeks before I can take it onward. Will also contact the TB's owner, but surely they'd rather have their TB safe and slow than exterminated.

That's scary! One of my new bugs, ALKEY is headed for the Keys. I hope he can avoid this loser. If you look at the cache that is ALKEY's goal, there a ton of missing bugs there. I guess all I can do is cross my fingers! Maybe this moron will lose interest.

Og

Prophetically Challenged (or is that Pathetically?)

August 25, 2003

Someone over towards Jacksonville made a TB hotel cache and will only give out coords if you ask. That way we'll at least know who had access in case the TBs are stolen. Not a great solution, but I don't know what else would work.

I've thought of suggesting that you don't show the TB icon next to the cache list or on the cache page - keep info publically available up to the TBs last cache and only let the owner know where its current location is. That would mean you couldn't go hunting for TBs :-(, but would make it much harder to exterminate them.

Hopefully we won't see this problem too many places, though I've heard of exterminators in other states, too.

Yuck.

August 25, 2003

TB locations could be shown to members only - another benefit of membership.

Kissimmee Kouple

August 26, 2003

Set a trap for the "exterminator", identify him, and teach him some manners.

SA / PP-ASEL-I / Yahoo "SphinxXXVII" / ICQ 1916574

August 28, 2003

62 Days for us I just sent another email (NICE EMAIL) to ask him again whats up? This cacher has found 697 caches and 83 travel bugs. So I dont know what the problem is?

tdjvolks...

August 31, 2003

Heh...we're guitly of holding two bugs "hostage" over four months. (we actually thought that we had lost one of them....whew) We ended up placing them in some caches in New Mexico, about 660 miles from where we picked them up. At least we moved them in the general direction that they were supposed to go! Over the same period of time, a guy took our TB that was headed for Utah and put it in Maine! I guess we can't be too mad, though, after we didn't really help those two others.

BUT NOW I'M SORRY FOR CAUSING YOU SO MUCH PAIN I PROMISE!!!!!!!!

-wray_clan

i feel so guilty...

September 1, 2003

I have a bug that has been held since December 22, 2002, by a guy who says he uses his GPS every day, but hasn't been able to find a suitable cache to place the bug.

Go figure.

September 3, 2003

WELL The cacher has renewed my faith in people. He has just loged 10 caches that he took my bug to and it has now travelled 3219 miles and is moving again. He has emailed me and sincerely apologize for delaying or TB I guess it pays to wait. QUOTE]Originally posted by tdjvolks:

62 Days for us I just sent another email (NICE EMAIL) to ask him again whats up? This cacher has found 697 caches and 83 travel bugs. So I dont know what the problem is?

tdjvolks...

September 3, 2003

Keep the faith. I have just had my first TB logged after being held for 366 days. It has now travelled over 1700 miles. Is there a record for the longest held TB to resurface?

-Donna G

September 3, 2003

Lighten up and relax.

monster popper

My bug was missing 9 months. "And like the cat it came back"

gm100guy

http://members.rogers.com/gm100guy/cachepage.htm

Ontario geocachers http://groups.msn.com/GeocachinginOntario/homepage

September 3, 2003

On Monday we visited "Big Lake North" cache GCG8J5. There were two other visitors that logged visits that day but they have have yet to log their visits on the web page. There also were two TB's in the cache and neither of them were logged in. I took one - Lisa and left the other Craftsman. When I went to the TB page for Craftsman it shows that it was picked up by "justmeworkingman" on 8/24 from GC918F cache but he never logged into that cache either, strange. The I went to "justmeworkingman"'s page and it shows he has found 4 TB's but has not found any caches!!

Is this just someone who doesn't know how to play the game? Wonder how many missing TB's are travelling around but are not properly recorded?

Kissimmee Kouple

September 6, 2003

Lots Kissimee...

We have at least two caches that have TBs shown in them but they were taken long ago! We would like to know how to remove them from our pages as cachers keep looking for ghost bugs! At one cache of ours were transferred the ghost to the graveyard as we did manage to find the tag number....... We just wish people would READ the rules on bugs AND! supervise their kids or charges so they just do not grab a "toy"!

poikää es butterfly

Pain is weakness leaving the body

September 6, 2003

Well, I picked up my first TB today..

Man this is almost stressful.. I visited one cache after 'adopting' the bug, and didn't leave it there.. I almost feel bad.

But on the other hand, we are planning a special trip tomorrow morning to more than double his distance travelled!

BTW.. This game is awesome

-Ken

September 10, 2003

Check out the sad story of Jethro of Borg , my first TB, released June 11 2002, held hostage by newbs for 8 months, released after the third email, only to be picked up by.. yup, you guessed it, an even greener newbie (all of 2 finds) who has had it for almost six months and has not logged on the site or returned any emails for the past three. What were the chances! All my new bug will have a card with them saying not to pick it up if you don't plan to move it.

I figure if they can figure out how to log it, then they should figure out how to use them and pass them on in at least a month or something.

Ack! (it's just a game, but disappearing TB's suck)

September 10, 2003

I was checking on some of my caches and found a bug in one with no mention in the paper logs. I took it and logged it online, the owner was happy, it had last been seen in Canada and I'm down in California. It was only three weeks, but the owner was still relieved. I haven't sent any off yet. I realized it'd probably be slow, but I'm glad I read this so I know just how slow it can be.

September 11, 2003

Hypothetically:

Joe Blow reads the Travel Bug page. He sees that the tags can be attached to "objects" to track them. he thinks COOL, and puts one on his keyring.

He loses his keys.

He figures, what the heck and struggles on without his keys, until, low and behold someone logs into this site and "grabs his keys" and now his keys are doing a world tour....

I guess it is a good thing they weren't in the ignition....

Trash-out, EVERYtime

~~

Geo-cach-er, n. generally a highy technically competent person with lots of free time. (see also- "Unemployed", Computer administrator, aircraft technician- defense worker- dot-com executive- systems administrator, et.al)

September 13, 2003

Hey your not alone...

I've had a bug out there for months now. I e-mailed the current owner and still nothing.The brightside though. If LAZARUS bug can come back after 120 months,so can mine. I have 3 more tags so I'm not really worried.. Afterall I sending 1 around the world, which is my quest might take some time.

MN12

September 13, 2003

Ahhh that's 10 months not 120...sorry folks!

mn12

September 14, 2003

While my story isn't as emotionally compelling as some here, our TB is a likeable fellow (Ohio Bound Bear) and most have been willing to move him along fairly quickly, until now.

He has just gone over the 60-day mark, beating the previous understandable mark of 42 days last winter. An active couple from South Bend, Ind. has him. I e-mailed a "hope every thing's OK..." last week but have had no response. They're still alive because they were on the site just a few days ago. Previous e-mails to other cachers yielded quick responses.

I don't know whether to keep waiting or e-mail again. He's very close to his destination. Perhaps I should log a note on the TB's page?

don

September 14, 2003

I'd give it some time before emailing again. It looks like they haven't found a cache since July 16th, and there may be a reason for that. If you email too often, you risk annoying the person, and I'd hate to annoy someone who had my bug.

5.3k · September 15, 2003

I have a bug "Ozzy"that is stuck at a cache that no one has visited for almost three months , he is in a mulit cache that requires a 14 mile hike to get to.

http://www.geocaching.com/seek/cache_details.aspx?ID=71410

It seems like he might as well be MIA . I would go get him myself to get him on his way, but a 14 mile hike for me would not be a good idea.

September 22, 2003

See what you mean about that cache. There are 6 bugs in it, its a 14 mile hike to get there and the owner requests you only take 1 bug at a time. Those bugs will be there a while. Does sound like a nice hike though. Driveable for me to, maybe take the kids sometime soon.

September 23, 2003

Ugh, nothing like having your TB held hostage for months at a time with no word from whoever has it. Another pet peeve of mine is missed logs. Half the fun of the TB is to see the logs, the names of the caches and cachers, and seeing the distance it's travelled. We have two bugs out there and the distance shown for either of them is way off. There have been many, many times they have changed hands and either the pick up or the drop off never got logged. Drives me nuts.

September 23, 2003

My tavel bug has been held hostage since May 03, 2003. I have sent several "Nice" emails to this individual, no reply. I don't want to do the nasty gram, so.... I guess it's just a gonner. The kidnappers last visit to Geocaching.com was July 12th.

Wish there was something I could do.

September 24, 2003

What we need is a hi-tech bug that is able to emit a piercing, inescapable shriek, punctuated with "Place me in a cache! NOW!" This feature would need to be enabled by remote control from any distance. It would also need to be indestructible, and have an infinite power supply. In addition, it would need to have its own GPS capability and ability to broadcast its location from anywhere on the planet to its owner, as well as turning off its alarm when it reaches the coordinates of any designated "Bugnapper Amnesty" caches distributed globally no more than 50 miles apart. It should also float, and be able to dig itself out from underground should it be buried. It could have an option to give a nasty skin rash to anyone holding it more than 2 weeks. Lastly, it needs to weigh less than an ounce and cost less than $5.00.

Somebody get to work on this, OK? I'm too busy.

"I don't practice what I preach, because I'm not the sort of person I'm preaching to." - J.R. "Bob" Dobbs

September 25, 2003

*growls at extermanater* I'm realesing one soon, I can't decide what to put the taggy on! I hope the "Evil Extermanater" will keep his (or her) hands off of my buggy!!!!

September 28, 2003

150+ days for one of my bugs, I have emailed the people who have him, and gotten one reply several months ago.....I email them every now and then now, when I think about it...It has yet to have any luck. I just figure someday he will be back on the move either that or I will never see him again......

Rusty

RW Da Man!!!

CHS#1

September 30, 2003

I'm starting to get a little nervous about sending a defenseless little bug out there into the wild...yikes!

I think when I release my bug (as yet undetermined, I just got my tags in the mail yesterday!) I will do the following:

1) Place the poor thing in a ziploc - I've only hit 15 caches, but more than half of them were damp, soggy, or just plain waterlogged. That equals a smelly, moldy death for plushie TBs. Unless it's in an ammo can, it's likely to get wet...

2) Maybe put (laminated?) instructions with it - where it's trying to go, what you need to do to log it as taken, and then place it again, and finally a little nicety note about how long to hang on to the bug...and that if it's been out of commission for a while, they can expect and email from me.

I'm sure some people have done this w/their bugs before - I'd be curious to know if it helped....

September 30, 2003

Well, after reading this thread, I decided to look at my track record for keeping travel bugs. Of the 6 bugs I have moved, I held onto them for about 26 days, 10 days, 42 days, 56 days, 20 days, and one that I still have (30 days and counting). Some of these seem like long periods; and they may be. However, many of the caches that I have done have been A) too small to hold the TB, very near the cache from which the TB was retrieved, C) in a location that I considered "unsafe" to leave a bug. By that I mean that I thought the cache had a potential to be plundered. Its bad enough to lose trade items and a cache container, but a TB is a much greater loss. D) Too full to hold a TB.

I held Tigger the longest, but took him on a 20 day vacation. I picked up Larry on that same vacation. But please understand this-I am always conscious of the time I have a bug, and do not intentionally keep them just for the sake of "holding-on". I am often keeping the best interest of the TB and owner in mind when I discriminate in the location I choose to leave it.

Reading this thread, however, has made me more aware of the sensitivity of owners who like to see their TB moved more quickly. To that end, I will try to be more expeditious in transferring a bug to its new home, from this point forward.

I have purchased 4 TB dog tags myself, but have not activated them yet. When that is done, I suppose that I, too, will eagerly anticipate each and every move they make.

October 3, 2003

I have my first TB and am reading up on TB etiquette here.

The first time I ever read anything about Travel bugs I thought it said you can and should take them to visit a couple caches then place them in a truly worthy one.

The heros TB (#307333) has accompanied me on several minor adventures (all hero-related, more or less) and I have mentioned him in each post, AND on the TB page. BUT, when I hit the 'map' button on the heros TB page it still only maps him to where I picked him up.

I guess in order to get the map to show the TB's whole adventure I would have to log that I 'dropped' him at each cache I have visited with him then 'pick up' - I bet this is a functionality issue which will be remedied soon.

M England

aka kayakman9760

email michael.j.england@us.army.mil

here is my favorite geocache-related quote.

As soon as I figure out how, I will make this my signature and include it in all posts.

"Think digitally but carry a hard copy.

A computer with a bullet hole is not much more than a doorstop, but a map with a bullet hole is still a map."

41 days and I'm steaming!!

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